


Of Ugly Sights, Of Ghastly Dreams

by Mara



Category: Kamen Rider Blade
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3242501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nights aren't all that restful for the people fighting the Undead. It's good that they have people to keep them company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Ugly Sights, Of Ghastly Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place at some point after Mutsuki was freed from the Category Ace.

Tachibana came to consciousness slower than usual, probably because he was even shorter on sleep than usual. Most of the day was spent chasing an Undead through the woods for almost 10 hours, then nearly collapsing on his motorcycle. Kenzaki had insisted on coming back to his apartment...ostensibly in order to keep an eye on him, but they had just enough adrenaline left that they couldn't keep their hands off each other. That had occupied quite some time, but it helped them fall asleep at least.

So he could be excused for taking a few minutes to realize that the sounds of pain he was hearing weren't in his dream, but coming from Kenzaki.

There were almost words, but mostly moans as Kenzaki thrashed on the bed, face contorted in fear/sadness/something. Preparing for a bad response, Tachibana called out, "Kenzaki. Please wake up. You're safe with me. Wake up."

Kenzaki's convulsing slowed somewhat but didn't stop, so Tachibana carefully reached out and shook his shoulder. "Kenzaki, can you hear me? You're safe. You're in my apartment. You're safe here."

Slowly, he could feel Kenzaki relax, until he finally opened his eyes. "Tachibana?" he whispered.

Tachibana nodded, stroking his shoulder. "Which nightmare was it?"

Kenzaki looked away. "My parents in the fire. Except...this time I was Blade but I still couldn't save them."

Closing his eyes for a moment, Tachibana took a breath then lay down again, pulling Kenzaki into his arms. Kenzaki resisted briefly, as he always did, but eventually buried his face in Tachibana's chest, shaking. A few tears fell, but Tachibana didn't comment on them. It was only fair, since Kenzaki did the same for him when he dreamt of Sayoko or his body disintegrating.

As he drifted back to sleep, Tachibana wondered what it would be like to have less realistic dreams. Or maybe to have a life with fewer horrible things in it to appear in his dreams.

* * *

Kotarou knew it was a nightmare. I mean, it was obviously a nightmare, because he was pretty sure that Haruka and Amane hadn't been eaten by a giant talking clownfish.

Pretty sure. 

There weren't actually talking clownfish, right? No Undead clownfish lurking around with bright orange and white stripes? Because that would just be disturbing. More disturbing than usual.

At least as disturbing as dreaming about his sister and annoying niece being eaten.

"You're thinking too loudly," Shiori mumbled into his shoulder.

"No, I'm not."

"Maybe it's just that I'm too close because this bed is too small."

With a snort, he poked her forehead. "If you don't like it, you can go sleep on the couch, since Kenzaki isn't using it."

"Never." She wrapped an arm around him, drawing him even closer. "It's too cold."

"You only love me because I'm warm."

"Hmmph. I didn't say I love you." 

"Of course not." He smiled at the top of her head, letting her warmth soak in and wash away the nightmare. "Oh, Shiori?"

"Mmm?"

"There's no Clownfish Undead, right?"

She lifted her head enough to stare at him. "Go to sleep."

"I'll assume that's a no."

* * *

Hajime woke gradually, still confused about what was real and what was part of the dream. He generally liked most parts of being human, but sometimes this need to sleep and have dreams made him reconsider.

Especially when the dreams seemed to feature every Undead he'd ever fought plus some he was fairly certain didn't exist, followed by images of humans dying at his hands.

Pushing himself out of bed, he managed the steps in the dark as quietly as he could, getting a glass of water and taking it to look out at the night sky. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, trying to blank his mind, before he heard quiet footsteps from Haruka and Amane's rooms upstairs.

At least in this form he still maintained some heightened senses, because he shuddered to think what might have happened if Haruka had surprised him. Instead he was able to gracefully turn and nod in her direction.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"I...don't always sleep well." He wondered why he even admitted that.

Haruka came to stand beside him, looking out as well. "Neither do I. Sometimes I dream about Amane's father."

Hajime didn't crush the glass in his hand.

She sighed. "Tonight I dreamt something happened to Amane. That's, well, it's fairly common for mothers, I suppose. Still unpleasant."

Hajime thought he was probably supposed to say something in response, something helpful. Kenzaki would know what. 

She didn't seem upset at his silence and they stood together for a time. Hajime wondered why she and Amane made him more human, but at moments like this, he couldn't deny it.

Eventually, she stirred. "I'd better try and get some more sleep. You should try too, if you can."

"I will," he said. "Thank you."

Smiling, she patted his shoulder and went back upstairs. Taking a last look at the beautiful night sky, he turned toward his own bed.

* * *

Nozomi gently stroked the hair out of Mutsuki's face, charmed by the way his mouth hung slightly open as he slept. She knew she should wake him, send him home to his bed, but their starwatching date had been postponed twice already due to Undead attacks. So even if Mutsuki slept through it on her lap, she was reluctant to lose any more time with him.

Looking up at the stars, it took her a moment to realize that he wasn't sleeping peacefully any longer. They'd deliberately chosen a fairly dark spot, but this close to the city, there was always some light. Nozomi leaned forward, finding that sure enough, he was moving restlessly and his face didn't look happy.

She frowned, unsure of the best thing to do, settling for going back to stroking his hair. It seemed to help for a bit until Mutsuki's eyes shot open and he sat up so fast they nearly smacked foreheads.

Nozomi fell over backward on the blanket they were sitting on as Mutsuki stared at her. "Mutsuki?" she said softly.

That did the trick and his face settled back into familiar lines. "Nozomi, I..."

"What?"

"I'm sorry I fell asleep."

She smiled at him and sat up. "That's okay, I don't mind. But what...what were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing." He turned away, staring back toward the city.

With a sigh, Nozomi smacked the back of his head. "Idiot."

"What?" Jaw dropping, he turned back.

"Do you think I'll take that answer now? How stupid do you think I am?"

Mutsuki pulled his knees up to his chin, staring down at the ground. "I just...I don't like to talk about it."

"Maybe you should."

Nozomi was just starting to worry that she'd said the wrong thing when he spoke. "I used to dream—you know about what happened to me when I was a baby?" He looked up.

"Yes. Kenzaki told me." She left the 'you should have told me' implied.

He went back to looking at the ground. "I used to dream about that. About being in the dark, about being helpless. That was..."

She couldn't hold back, scooting forward until she could wrap herself awkwardly around him. "That was why you wanted to be a Rider."

He nodded.

"Did you have that dream again?"

"No. I haven't, not since the Category Ace." He leaned into her the tiniest bit.

She didn't want to push more. But she had to, she thought, squeezing him. "You dreamt about the spider."

"Sort of. About...about killing people," he said in a rush. "Instead of just pushing y—everyone who got in my way, I killed them."

"Oh, Mutsuki." She held him as tightly as she could.

"I know it was just a dream, but..."

"That's the way nightmares are," she whispered in his ear. "They feel so real. But I'm here and your friends are alive. So are you."

"For how long?" he asked, the faintest sign of tears in his voice.

"I don't know."

"That's not very comforting." He managed to laugh as he said it.

"I'm your cheerleader but I can't see the future." She gave him one last squeeze and reluctantly let go. "I guess we should go home."

"Could..." He paused. "Could we stay just a little longer?"

"Of course." Now that Nozomi thought about it, she wasn't quite ready to be alone yet either. 

Sometimes you just needed someone to lean on when things were dark and scary.

\--end--


End file.
